Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 05/01/2012 Gr 4–6—The premise in this debut novel is that the princes in the "Cinderella," "Snow White," "Rapunzel," and "Sleeping Beauty" stories resent their relative anonymity (they're all just known as "Prince Charming") and want some recognition. Then, too, that "happily ever after" thing isn't working for any of them, so the princes and their princesses set off to rectify matters. The eight of them team up in assorted permutations throughout the ensuing slapstick proceedings. Unfortunately, it all becomes tiresomely repetitive. Though it might be funny once for people to fall over and knock into other people who fall over… and over and over like dominoes, it stops being amusing pretty quickly. It's understandable that Healy's characters are broadly drawn. They are, after all, fairy-tale personae. But more than 400 pages of the obsessive-compulsive prince, the ridiculously macho prince, the overachieving prince, and the extremely stupid prince and their equally one-dimensional princesses are a lot to plow through, especially when things are left so unresolved that readers suspect a sequel is in the offing.—Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY - Copyright 2012 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 05/15/2012 This is the fractured and funny saga of four Princes Charming, who really aren’t that charming, and four princesses, who are perfectly capable of saving themselves, thank you very much. Readers might not recognize the names Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav, but their partners Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel will obviously ring a bell, and imaginative first-time children’s novelist Healy places them all in neighboring kingdoms, provides when-boy-meets-girl backstories, and sets them on a quest to . . . do a lot of things, actually. Such tasks include defeating witches, battling dragons, rescuing imprisoned bards, and other assorted hero-type things, which are accomplished with lots of slapstick action and tongue-in-cheek, eye-roll-worthy dialogue, with some life lessons (“sometimes being a hero isn’t about getting the glory. It’s about doing what needs to be done”) thrown in for good measure. Take Jon Scieszka’s The Frog Prince, Continued (1991) concept, add 400 pages, shake silly, and read with glee. Complete interior illustrations unseen. - Copyright 2012 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 07/01/2012 What’s a prince gotta do around here to get a little respect? That’s the question Prince Liam, Prince Frederic, Prince Duncan, and Prince Gustav (you might better know them as the Princes Charming from Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively) find themselves asking after the storytelling bards get a few facts wrong and end up portraying the princes as generic fools who play second fiddle to the heroics of their princesses. The four royal lads join forces to clear their names (or at least establish that they have a name other than Charming) and set off to rescue Cinderella. That’s despite the fact that she does not actually require any rescuing (the clever and resourceful gal quite willingly left the palace in search of adventure) and despite the fact that their bumbling questing puts the princes’ lives and kingdoms at stake. Healy has given fans of fractured fairy tales a real treat here, with a fantasy world that is recognizable in its once-upon-a-time elements but turned upside down by well-mannered giants, pint-sized bandits, and a fame-obsessed witch. The boyish camaraderie among the princes is particularly charming (pun fully intended) and each is imbued with a distinctive personality that allows them to be mostly sympathetic but also just a bit laughable. The humor comes as much from the absurd situations the princes find themselves in as it does from their various personality quirks that heighten the story’s ridiculousness. Thankfully, the author is an equal-opportunity mocker, allotting a similar amount of folly to Ella and her fellow princesses; readers who believe strongly in the equality of the sexes-both in smarts and not-so-smarts-will find plenty to love here. KQG - Copyright 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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